We're a marketplace that connects our contractors with customers. We want to release an iOS app (React Native) for our contractors but we don't want the app to be on the public App Store. For Android we use the Alpha Channel feature, which gives us a link that we can send people to download the app.
The Enterprise program isn't suitable for us I think because we can't ask our contractors to enrol in a program?
The Custom B2B program doesn't seem to be a good fit since we are not selling or white labelling any apps?
Is there another option or am I wrong with the above mentioned assumptions?
Options for Distributing Your iOS App to a Limited Audience
Imagine you’ve built an iOS app for a limited set of users. Since it requires authentication, the app is useless to the general public. Is the public App Store the only option to deploy this app without express shipping devices through the mail?
I’ve identified 5 options that you should know about.
1) The Public App Store
Distribute the app on the public App Store. Only people authorized to use the app can authenticate and use its features. Requiring a small price (such as 99 cents) will discourage casual installations.
Submitting to the public App Store requires an iOS Developer license for $99 per year.
Pros
Apple provides the distribution service – The App Store. It is highly available and well understood by users.
The App Store promotes your company on a highly visible marketplace.
Cons
The App Store approval process is required for initial app deployment and app updates. You may be required to make changes to the app. The approval process used to take weeks, but currently only takes a day or two.
The App Store provides information about your app to competitors including a description of the app’s features, screenshots and an indication when the app is updated.
If you charge a price for the app, 30% of the revenue goes to Apple.
2) iOS Developer Enterprise Program
The iOS Enterprise Distribution program allows a company to distribute their own “in-house” apps directly. It is intended for employees of the licensee company only and that licensee must be a company or organization with a DUNS number. The cost is $299 per year for this license compared to $99 per year for the iOS Developer License. A given device can have apps installed from only one iOS Enterprise License at a time.
*Note: The following is an excerpt from the iOS Enterprise Distribution License Agreement
“Internal Use Applications developed under this Agreement may be deployed on Deployment Devices in two ways: (1) deployment for internal use by Employees, and (2) deployment for use by Customers either on Your physical premises or under the direct supervision and physical control of Your Employees in other locations, subject to Apple’s right to review and approve such deployment as set forth herein.”
Pros
The App Store approval process is not required.
The general public cannot see a listing for your app, purchase or install it. It is not on the App Store.
Cons
The Enterprise program is intended for employees and contractors of the licensee only.
The licensee is responsible for distributing and updating the app. This can be done manually by email, making the app available on an Intranet site, through a Mobile Device Management System (MDM), etc.
The cost is $299 per year for the Enterprise Developer Account compared to $99 per year for the iOS Developer Account.
*Note: The Enterprise program does not enable you to deploy apps to the Public App Store. For that you need to be enrolled in the standard iOS Developer Program.
3) Custom B2B Apps Program
Apple has programs for volume purchasing and custom B2B apps. These programs operate from the online Business Store. The Volume Purchasing Program allows businesses to buy apps from the public App Store in bulk. Custom B2B Apps extend the Volume Purchase Program for custom B2B apps built by third-party developers. The third-party developer determines which Volume Purchase customer(s) can purchase a given app. Such apps are not available on the public App Store but only through the Business Store.
Pros
More convenient for larger distributions. Each individual installation does not require a user to make a purchase through the public app store and expense the cost. Instead, users are given a coupon that they can use to install the app.
Apple provides the distribution service – the Business Store. This provides some features of an MDM.
The general public cannot see the listing, purchase or install the app.
Cons
Requires App Store approval process for initial app and updates.
If you charge a price for the app, 30% of the revenue goes to Apple.
B2B apps are only available to businesses enrolled in the Volume Purchase Program. The Volume Purchase Program is limited to the following countries as of September, 2017: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
*Note: An iOS Developer License is required to use the Custom B2B Apps Program. Limiting an app to the B2B App Store is an option when submitting to the Public App Store.
4) Ad Hoc Distribution (intended for Testing)
Ad Hoc Distribution allows you to distribute apps to up to 100 iOS devices for testing. You must register these devices manually by their ID. Devices can be removed/replaced once each membership year). Ad Hoc Distribution is a feature of both the iOS Developer Program and the iOS Developer Enterprise Program. This may be all that is needed for a prototype or trade show.
Pros
The App Store approval process is not required.
The general public cannot see the listing, purchase or install the app.
Over-the-air installation from a hyperlink (hosted on your web server or on an iOS Beta Testing Service *mentioned next) or by emailing to a computer with iTunes installed (and then installing to the device).
Cons
Limited to 100 devices (devices can be removed/replaced once each membership year).
The UDID (Unique Device IDentifier ) of each device must be associated with your provisioning profile. This is a manual process.
Your team must manage deployments and updates.
The related developer provisioning profile expires in one year. This means that the app will run on a given device for a maximum of one year. When the Developer Provisioning profile expires the app will need to be rebuilt with a new provisioning profile.
5) iOS Beta Testing Service: TestFlight
TestFlight is a free over-the-air platform used to distribute beta and internal iOS applications to team members. Developers can manage testing and receive feedback from their team with TestFlight’s Dashboard.
TestFlight makes use of your iOS Enterprise License or Developer License to create Enterprise and Ad Hoc provisioned apps.
Pros
The same Pros as #2 iOS Developer Enterprise Program or #4 Ad Hoc Distribution depending on which iOS license you use.
Distribution and feedback is managed with a free, cloud based service.
Cons
The same Cons as #2 iOS Developer Enterprise Program or #4 Ad Hoc Distribution depending on which license you use minus the Con about managing deployments and updates. According to Apple, TestFlight builds are only valid for 90 days. Apps cannot be opened after that period.
Other Testing Tools and Services
AppCenter: iOS, Android, Windows, MacOS and more.
Firebase App Distribution: iOS and Android distribution.
If you are not selling the app through the Apple App Store and have a target customer base, I would try the Microsoft App Center to distribute the app. It kind of works like TestFlight, but you don't have to worry about their review process.
Now we have one more option to distribute apps supported by Apple as the official way to do exactly what you are asking for: Custom Apps
Engage with businesses and educational institutions to design and build customized apps that meet the unique needs of their organization. With Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager, you can privately and securely distribute to specific partners, clients, and franchisees. You can also distribute proprietary apps to your internal employees.
There is now (since a while back) another alternative to this problem: Unlisted app distribution
https://developer.apple.com/support/unlisted-app-distribution/
It makes it possible to publish your app on the App Store, but the only way to find the app is by a direct link.
And an important difference of this to Apple Business Manager is that you can distribute the app to both managed and unmanaged devices which makes it possible to let users buy there own devices.
I think that Unlisted app distribution is pretty new but will become more and more common when Apple now (2022) do not let companies with less than 100 employees renew their Apple Enterprise Developer Programs and force those companies to other distribution models.
Applivery allows you upload an app (Android & iOS) and distribute to employees or beta testing, without MDM or Google/Apple Store. They have a free trial...
Related
Is it possible to use the Enterprise program to distribute for people in my society private apps, but making them available only as paid application ?
(They could use their iTunes Account to pay the apps).
Sincerely
You can either distribute an app through the public App Store (standard Apple Developer Program) or internally for your company's employees through the Apple Enterprise Program. For the latter you will need to host your own store.
It's not possible to "mix" those two distribution channels and charge money through iTunes Accounts. You can probably integrate your own payment system in your Enterprise app.
Due to recent events, the Apple Enterprise program is getting more attention and it might be harder to distribute apps outside of the terms of use.
Distribute proprietary, in-house iOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps within your organization. Securely host and deploy apps to your employees' devices.
You might want to check out the full official docs as well as terms of use: https://developer.apple.com/programs/enterprise/
I have been researching a lot about this issue, but I only get more and more confused...
Basically, what I need to do is to distribute a free ios app, but I don't want it to be available to everyone, but just to some of my customers (5 or 6 companies). I have been looking into the B2B option, but I have some questions:
The purchasing company must enroll in the Volume Purchase Program... will this be free for them?
Can I distribute the same app to more than one company?
How exactly can I perfom the distribution? Can I just publish my .ipa through one of my servers? Or do I need to go with a MDM? I have read that it is actually the purchasing company who has to get and manage the MDM?
According to Apple : "Even though custom B2B apps can be free, you must have a Paid Applications contract for your app to be visible on the Custom B2B App Store."... what does that mean?
Maybe there is another better option for me than the B2B program?
Sorry for asking so many questions, and many thanks in advance!!
María.
When distributing an iOS app b2b:
any buyer must be enrolled in the Volume Purchase Program (this is free).
you must specifically allow all buyers (there can be more than one) to purchase by specifying their Apple ID in iTunes connect.
the buyer pays whatever price you specify for the app on a per install basis and Apple takes their 30% cut. This can specify a price of zero.
distribution is entirely Apple-hosted but the app is not visible in the public app store.
The Paid Applications Contract is an agreement between you and Apple that you must enter into before using B2B distribution. Steps to make the agreement are here - http://www.pressmatrix.de/product-blog/apple-developer-itunes-connect-guide/
Note that b2b apps MUST go through Apple review process.
The only other option I see is to require your clients to enroll in the iOS Developer Enterprise program (cost of $300 per year) and then allow you to sign the app with their certificates for distribution to their employees using "over the air" installation, config utils, or an MDM.
It sounds as though you might want the iOS Developer Enterprise program.
This enables you to distribute apps ad hoc, however you might want to check whether that means to one organisation or to multiple as I'm unsure.
Comparison of the iOS developer programs
I want adhoc distribution of app without registering Device id on the portal.So that everybody can install it on his/her device by downloading it.
On search I found this link and this Link that costs about $299 for that but I am not able to understand the whole process I have to follow for this.
Can anybody explain me the entire process I have to follow for adhoc distribution for all the people not only for devices whose id is registered on portal.And let me know can we have both $99 and $299 account together or not.
Is there any limitation for number of users in $299 account?
iOS Developepr Enterprise Program enrollment process
#)https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
How the app will be distributed to the employees…
#)http://blog.blazingcloud.net/2013/01/15/testflight-versus-in-house-web-server-to-distribute-enterprise-ios-apps/
(the second option among two from this web site is the way of distribution we are going to follow.. Named: Custom Web Distribution of an Enterprise iOS App)
some more links are there you can check if that are of your use or not.
#)How to Distribute Your iOS App Without AppStore (Enterprese Distribution process)
iPhone app without AppStore
http://monkieblankie.blogspot.in/2011/03/how-to-distribute-your-ios-app-without.html
l)http://nachbaur.com/blog/building-ios-apps-for-over-the-air-adhoc-distribution
ll)Can I develop an iPhone application that my company can use for internal employees only?
lll)http://iphonecto.com/2009/09/09/deploying-internal-enterprise-application-iphone/
http://www.foraker.com/ios-app-distribution-options/
iPhone Application Enterprise Distribution Process
(Important link)
Does the iPhone / iPod Touch support bulk enterprise app deployment or would all customers have to buy from app store (Important link)
Alternative solutions for in-house iPhone enterprise app distribution (Important link)
http://www.maas360.com/maasters/forums/mobile-device-management-mdm/show/120/deploying-iphone-and-ipad-in-your-enterprise (Important link)
http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/iphone-sdk-development/9001-enterprise-iphone-application-deployment.html
Just to give you a little background, we have a software application which anyone can access through web. It is a very specific application for banking and retail industry. Currently this application is accessible on web as well as on "Windows tablet kiosk" and we have license based pricing. Windows tablets access the data through web services.
So for example, XYZ Bank can order 100 windows tablet licenses and we can charge them for the application based on our pricing model for 100 license.
We are getting lot of requests from our clients to develop the same app on iPad and we are currently researching on deployment options for the same. As per my understanding, Apple has very stringent rules when it comes to App download.
In above scenario, where organization needs a licence from us to run the application what kind of deployment strategy we should go with? I can think of 2 options:
1) To deploy the app on iTunes stores and ask the organization to download it from the iTunes store. They will have to contact us to get the license in order to run the App. Is it legal? Since we have license based pricing model, we'll keep our App for free and will charge organization for license.
2) Should we just get enterprise license for our clients/organization and deploy the system on their iPad under that enterprise license.
According to me option # 1 is the way to go. But I just want to know if this is OK to distribute the App for free and than charge for licenses? In any case this is more of a web app and iPhone is just an extension.
Option #1 is only ok in a special case, when you have a general subscription model for your service outside the App Store/IAP process, like Spotify does, for example. There's a special paragraph in the App Store guidelines for that, 11.14. But if your customers pay a one-time fee just to use the iPad app, I think Apple would consider this as circumventing the App Store payment model and would reject your app because of rule 11.1 of the guidelines.
But Apple just set up a new distribution model for cases like yours, the "Custom B2B apps". It's a way to distribute custom apps for specific customers through the App Store, without the need for Enterprise Licenses for each customer. See
http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/
Only customers that you have approved before will be able to see their custom app in the App Store. Payment goes through Apple and they keep 30% as usual. This program is US-only now but will be rolled out to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and UK soon.
If you don't want to give the 30% away, your only option is indeed #2, building the app with an Enterprise License of your client. The only real downside I see is that you have to get each client to enroll in the developer program and renew it every year. If you have many clients, that could become a problem.
But once they've set you up as an agent or admin, the process is smooth. E.g. you can use a MDM service for OTA updates to your client's devices and they can set up an inhouse app store, so their user experience is almost the same as when using Apple's app store.
I've just decided to go with option #2 for an enterprise project for 3-5 clients. I would say that if you have more than about 10 clients, the extra work with all the different certificates, distribution methods etc. wouldn't be worth it and I'd rather pay Apple 30% to handle that and go with the Custom B2B program (if it's available in your country).
Option 1 is more preferable.
You can have a free app on the app store.
After that you can have a option for licensing. and from coding you can maintain that in order to use the app they needs to purchase the license.
Lots of app does that as they have their signup based on the Device ID.
I have worked with some of the apps who uses to give their services like SIP Calling with licensing like that.
so with option 1 you can achieve it.
thanks
Can someone point out what is the difference?
And what for do we actually pay so much money, when supporting the iPhone with our hard work?
Is it right that I have to have the Enterprise Membership (299 USD), when I want to sell Apps for money? Or can I also sell Apps when I "only" have the cheaper Standard Membership (99 USD)?
Is there a fee every time I want to upload a new app to the App Store? Where is the hook in the Standard Membership?
The Enterprise Membership is only for enterprises - no app store distribution, but you can distribute your programs within your enterprise (ad-hoc). With the Standard one, you can put your apps on the app store but can only give out 100 copies of your program using ad-hoc.
There is no fee for submitting apps to the App Store once you have a Standard membership.
If you want to distribute both to your organization via adhoc and the public via App Store, you need to register two separate accounts. This was confirmed in an email from Apple Dev Support.
From Apple:
The standard plan does NOT allow distribution to iPhones (except a few development phones) outside of the app store.
The enterprise plan does NOT allow distribution to iPhone via the app store, but does permit developers to deploy their own programs within their own organization without designating those phones as 'development' phones.
-Adam
"The standard plan does NOT allow distribution to iPhones (except a few development phones)"
how many phones??